Ultron Will Have An ‘Extreme Personality And Attitude’ in ‘The Avengers 2′

With the world premiere of Captain America: The Winter Soldier occurring last week and Guardians of the Galaxy deep into post-production, writer and director Joss Whedon is beginning to shoot the closing chapter on Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with The Avengers: Age of Ultron. The team-up sequel already began shooting second unit in South Africa a few weeks ago and this week we’ll get our first tease of the production during ABC’s Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe special tomorrow.

While we don’t know what the limited footage of The Avengers 2 will include, we can only hope it at least showcases some of the new characters the sequel will introduce, from siblings Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, to the more robotic Vision and Ultron. Marvel Studios president of production Kevin Feige only promises that fans will “certainly get more than just a peek at some of the new fun things we have in store.”

Speaking with Movies.com during the press junket for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Feige talked about how much work is going into the new villain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a threat so dangerous he’s able to bring Earth’s Mightiest Heroes together again.

“Introducing the new characters is going to be a lot of fun for the movie. That ever-changing roster is very important in the Avengers comics, and so how do we start to play with that [on the big screen]? Also our bad guy is great. I think people are going to very, very excited to see what we’re doing with the voice that Joss [Whedon] is bringing to life with James Spader for Ultron. We love Ultron from the comics, and have always loved Ultron, and at no point do we want him to just be a robot. We want him to have an extreme personality and attitude, and James Spader is doing an unbelievable job. Again, for us it’s always about subverting expectations. Whenever you think you know what’s coming next, we surprise people or deliver it in a slightly unexpected way. And Spader is doing that with Mr. Ultron.”

We know from previous interviews with Feige that not only the voice of James Spader (The Blacklist) will be used for Ultron, but his face and body as well. From what we’ve heard about Paul Bettany’s makeup and costume tests, it sounds like a similar approach will be used for Vision as well, a character that’s yet to be officially confirmed.

Some fans may see a red flag when reading the line from Feige where he says “it’s always about subverting expectations” because while we can appreciate the savoring of the moviegoing experience, for films based on comics with such a large following, this could indicate that Ultron will be very different from how he’s presented in the books, and if it’s not a better way, there’s potentially another Iron Man 3-Mandarin controversy on the horizon.

We already know from Joss Whedon that the origins of Ultron will be different in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the comics, it’s Hank Pym who creates Ultron, but in the films we won’t meet Pym until after The Avengers: Age of Ultron when Michael Douglas plays him in Ant-Man.

Ultron needs to be more menacing and dangerous than The Avengers’ first foe, Loki, especially if he’s potentially going to kill a member of the team, or at least force an inevitable change in the team’s roster. At the same time, Ultron also needs to be able to command the screen, which Spader is a leader at – but not if he was limited to being robotic as Feige points out. So, on the whole, this sounds promising, despite the challenge in bringing the character to life.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier hits theaters April 4, 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy on August 1, 2014, The Avengers: Age of Ultron on May 1, 2015, Ant-Man on July 17, 2015, and unannounced films for May 6 2016, July 8 2016 and May 5 2017.

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AverageMovieGoers 1 year ago

Definitely looking forward to see how Ultron is portrayed in the live action, cause even in the animated where he was basically a bland robot voice, he already creeped me out.

Oh, and Joss Whedon only said that Hank Pym is NOT in the movie. He never said that Hank does not have a role in the creation of Ultron, which I think he does (in some way) considering Ant-Man will be released in just a few months after Age of Ultron. I still don’t think it’s a mere coincidence

Quite excited seeing Ultron. I don’t know much a lot of the character but I’ve looked into what Ultron represent. Ultron reminds me of Brainiac, but there’s a huge difference between the two characters.

About the same time everyone is ok with liberties being taken in those comic universes? So… never? I mean, comic fans are kinda notorious when it comes to being sticklers for continuity and adherence to ‘canon’. In addition, there’s the old adage about trying to please everyone. You can’t. Change to the status quo is always going to upset someone’s apple cart.

That said, I’ll never understand what the harm would be if more of these studios actually did try to be more faithful in their adaptations. The truth is a large portion of the audience is going to have no idea whether the adaptation is being faithful or not and, to be blunt, a lot of these super hero movies coming out might actually be better if they did.

I attribute this largely to budget and production logistics. We’re also told to just accept it because “who wants to see the book you say you just read” but I’m not entirely sold on that argument. Look at B-movies. I’ve noticed that films with smaller budgets usually do not have simpler stories, and adaptations with smaller budgets tend to stick closer to the source (unless they go way, WAY off).

I haven’t seen either Fantastic Four (1994) or Supergirl, but for what it’s worth, I was marathon-ing through Red Letter Media’s Best of the Worst over the weekend. For less than a million dollars, from what I understood, the Fantastic Four was much, MUCH closer to its source material than the Salkind-produced Supergirl film. As bad a reputation as that unreleased film has, Fantastic Four was done by people who cared a little bit. Supergirl was way off the mark.

I’m fairly certain that the root of the problem for a film adaptation isn’t just complex or unmarketable source material. Those are issues, and they can be fixed more or less forgivably. Production logistics and costs are probably more to blame.

Actually, I am not comfortable with the constant rewriting of comic canon by the comics writers, either. It does not do justice to the characters’ original traits or my memories of them. S’cuze me while I chew my rag.

After seeing Ultron in Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (omg I love that show i’m upset its over) I can’t wait to see Ultron in the movie I think Spader will be so awesome and everyone seems so confident that the sequel can be more fun than the first. Also I am dying to see Thor wack Ultron with his hammer… I will literally purchase the dvd of this film… and when I myself am feeling blue… I will watch every scene when Thor strikes this robot with his hammer over… and over… and over again and I will be in the greatest mood ever… of all time. lol

I like how Feige is getting our wheels turning with his hinting at an “ever-changing roster.” Double down on your “Who gets Whedon-fied” bet right about now. Ha. Seriously though, it sounds like some epic stuff is going to happen here and especially in Avengers 3 (Downey’s final film). Hmmmmn, it seems way to obvious to disappear Hawkeye. Black Widow? Probably not. Until they get a Captain Marvel movie going they aren’t going to nix their only “in” for female viewers.

Have either of you guys considered that the “in” for female viewers is in the story and comic universe? The vast majority of women I know love the films for those reasons. They know very well who Black Widow (and Scarlett Johannson) is. Women don’t just watch films based on comics because of the pretty boys, however much we might admire them as well.

Oh, I agree with you there. It’s the same for men and women. You have a concrete fan base who likes comic-based films because of the universe they’re set in, one of the characters in it, or because they like comics in general. Then you have everyone else, a fair chunk of which are only interested in Thor’s shirtless scene or BW shot from behind in a tight body suit.

Lets all relax a little. The point was just being made that people do like characters that they can relate to on the big screen as well. It can be very empowering. So keeping films diverse, (read Kofi Outlaw’s article on it) is a big emphasis for studios. And understandably so.

I’m pretty sure that everyone is relaxed. There was only one knee-jerk reply. Oh course they like characters they can relate to. I have to agree with you about Black Widow. We have Sif (who I actually think is a better female role; I’m hoping the rumors I’ve heard about making another Thor movie with a focus on Sif/Thor/Jane as a love triangle is nonsense. That would butcher it), but she’s not as relevant to the Avengers except as a guess in any case. They’re most likely going to keep their main female supporting character. Hawkeye is best bet. They really need to get to a Captain Marvel film. That said, as long as they do it sometime in the next fifty years, they should have a jump on DC actually doing Wonder Woman.

They could even be setting up Ultron to combine with the Phalanx as the villain of a future Guardians of the Galaxy sequel, like Annihilation: Conquest. That’d even be a good way of redeeming Ronan. It could totally work if Ultron’s robotic consciousness is vanquished to space at the end of Avengers 2.

That would be a good way to do it. I was thinking they need to find a way to not make Ultron a 1 movie villain, but if he’s around Earth, then phase 3 will be seriously messed up without an Ultron presence in every film.

It’s going to be very interesting to see a NEW take on the character, less robotic, more “human”-like (given the fact that he, Ultron, was created from the brain-patterns/waves of Hank Pym in the comics/animated series)

Seeing a more.. humorious and playfully evil robot in Ultron is going to be very refreshing, and more of a joy to watch. James Spader can command a screen, that’s for certain, and he is actually very humorous on The Blacklist, and also very terrifying.

Having Ultron “upgrade”/”transform” himself in the film is also going to be a welcomed treat, with my speculation running wild thinking Ultron’s final “upgrade” with be that of a Humanoid (in regards to Spader getting extensive face and body scans)

It’s ALSO going to be interesting to see how his “spawn” is created, and how he will use them to overthrow the human race.

Not to mention the inclusion of how, or who, will actually create/build The Vision.

I highly doubt Ultron would EVER upgrade his armor to look like a human. His whole goal in life is to eradicate humanity! He would never take on the appearance of the creatures he longs to crush beneath his foot. If he did look like a human in the final battle, I’d be SO SO SO angry!! He would just look so lame battling a human. I think it’s possible he could start out looking like a synthetic human but then going rouge and changing his appearance into the robot we know and love. That would make so much more sense.

I’m really looking forward to this. Spader is a fantastic actor, and is more than a little familiar with extreme arrogance. Hopefully they nail this. Considering Ultron’s origin, it’ll be awesome to see him portrayed with more expression than the automaton he sounded like in EMH. He reminded me of a Cyberman.

I’m pretty sure he’s going to look like his incarnation in the comics. He’s most likely going to look like a machine… whatever that means… and Vision, is also an Android/A.I., but has more of a human-like “face” than Ultron does.

Does anyone think the AoS Clairvoyant (which hasn’t been seen) is the mind of Ultron at his most rudimentary level (gathering massive info and seemingly predicting the future)? That cybernetic eye and the leg of Deathlok seems like the beginning of Ultron tech to me.

That touches on a subject I have noticed something about recently. It seems alot of movies in general like to shoot shots that are supposed to be night or dark rooms, etc. (not just superhero flicks). I always find it irritating when you see a nearly dark screen and can not see what is going on. Good point.

Gonna use Spader’s face and body….what? Uh, Ultron looks great as Ultron. How are they going to incorporate Spader’s physical characteristics into the Ultron robot? A bit curious and potentially a little worrisome, but I am not panicking yet. I do like Spader in The Blacklist, and do like Ultron as a villain. Just wish Pym was his creator in this, and present as Goliath, with Wasp perhaps in tow. Still, pretty excited for this flick.

There has been nothing officially saying anyone is getting killed, well, “exactly” in this. However, there have been some teases. Speculating for a moment, who would I least like killed and who would be my first sacrifices? gee, that is actually a hard question. Not necessarily in order, I would keep alive Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor, and probably the new ones as well (Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch). If I had to see someone die, I would probably sacrifice Black Widow, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Hawkeye, Hulk, War Machine/Iron Patriot, Pepper Potts, and Vision. Having not seen Vision, Quicksilver, or Scarlet Witch in action yet, in these cases this is a little bit more speculative. I am really not ready to see anyone major go the way of Cyclops (by the way, wrong thread, but “WHERE’S CYCLOPS?!”), although I eventually want to see Goliath/Giant Man/Hank Pym and Wasp incorporated into the Avengers team where they belong (and should have been by now already, darn it!). This movie is going to have some interesting twists and turns, I think.

There are a couple villains I want to see eventually as well: kang, Skrulls, Whirlwind, and a REAL MANDARIN. On the good guy side, I would like to eventually see black panther, either in an Avengers flick or as a guest star in a Captain America flick.

Not totally…I did say I wanted to add Wasp. I also would not have any problems with seeing say, Monica Rambeau as Captain Marvel or something at some point. And I am really glad Scarlet Witch is in The Avengers #2 movie. So no, not sexist at all (just sexy!….sorry, had to add that….).

Thought Spader was funny on Boston Legal, very charming, don’t really enjoy his portrayal in The Blacklish, feels like he is doing an evil guy for the sake of doing an evil guy, hope his performance for Ultron will be fresh and not predicable.

“Introducing the new characters is going to be a lot of fun for the movie. That ever-changing roster is very important in the Avengers comics, and so how do we start to play with that [on the big screen]?” Settle down Kevin, I want at least TWO movies with Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, and Cap.

I had the idea after Avengers 1 that Cap was gonna die in Avengers 2, a-la Coulson, and giving the team a reason to band together again. And its not unlikely that the film slated to be CA3 could in turn be Bucky donning the mantle as Cap, simply because they (Marvel, Feige, Whedon) have been hinting from the get-go they want these characters to be able to interchangeable, and swap in and out of the roster.

I predict we see Fury dying, Tony taking over as head of SHIELD and taking a lesser role action-wise, Rhodes taking over for Iron Man, Cap dying, Bucky taking over for Cap, and then Tony returning as Iron Man to face the real Mandarin in Phase 3 or 4, however it pans out.

I mean just look at the current route they’re on:
CA2
GotG
A2
Ant-Man
CA3…then Thor 3, Dr Strange, A3 all confirmed…then talks of GotG2, Inhumans, Black Panther, with obvious plans for the characters of the Hulk, Tony Stark, Rhodes, Black Widow, and Hawkeye being used, but to what capacity?

“In the comics, it’s Hank Pym who creates Ultron, but in the films we won’t meet Pym until after The Avengers: Age of Ultron when Michael Douglas plays him in Ant-Man.”

HOWEVER…

Since Douglas is playing Pym (who was Ant-Man in the 60′s), can he not be aluded to as the creator? Kinda like Banner was mentioned in passing during the first Thor. If Pym was Ant-Man in the 60′s, he would certainly be known to SHIELD in modern day.

Can’t have Ultron without his signature face (now possibly helmet)! Spader is perfect for the role and I just love the aura he brings in movies/shows especially if he’s a villain!
I hope we get a first look for him, Vision, and the Maximoff twins for tonight’s special!!

I am excited for this! I am totally bummed out that they are going to kill off a character, this is a big superhero movie no no! But I am still excited. I just hope they change their mind’s and decide to not kill anyone but Ultron, or revive the character and add them back on later. I must say I’m not a big fan of the “dark” approach. Of course it is good to have a dark villain. But do they have to kill a superhero?! I hope that if any of the avengers are killed, they are quickly revived by a hulk roar. I hope they don’t follow through with turning the hulk evil! I like him better as a hero! It would be better to let Ultron come close to killing a hero, and then still let the hero live in the end. For dramatic affect like what they did in the first movie with Iron man. As for the Avengers 3, they should use Thanos as the villain. This time uniting a large army of marvel villains for the Avengers to go toe to toe with!

Well, heroes are awesome, great, and are super but doesn’t mean they’re invincible. To keep in touch with the reality of things, there are times when heroes just get more than they can handle and in this case it fits with the tone for Ultron. Just as it has been portrayed for many many shows/movies over the years (and in real life), nothing can motivate a person or team to work harder than to experience the death of a real close friend/comrade.
I’d be okay if Cap is the one getting axed as he not only is the leader per se, but sort of the glue of the team (which also sets up various new roles for the roster in the future), come back later on but either as a SHIELD agent or don his uniform one last time and fight alongside Bucky in his own CA uniform (both current in the comics).
With the growing roster of supervillains alongside heroes, I hope Marvel Studios can set up a potential movie version of the Masters of Evil before or after Thanos!

Hopefully they set up Planet Hulk in Avengers 2. If they kill someone off it should be Fury or Black Widow. I’m really hoping that at no point in this movie Ultron looks like James Spader….that would be a real let down…if he looks like him at any point it should be in the beginning and have him be a human version of JARVIS that then goes full Ultron later.

Back up back up back up! I agree with you fully on Ultron. But why everyone is so eager to kill off characters is beyond me! They are not supposed to die! This movie series can still be made darker without a bunch of pointless killings! Just take it from DC. They are a lot darker than marvel (in my opinion) and they do it without killing characters. There is no need to pointlessly go kill crazy on our heroes (who were just united in the last movie) just to add to the team or make things darker! Killing our heroes will just make things worse and let DC surpass marvel because they made a wise choice and let their characters LIVE! Lets think about here okay! Four long years of developing these heroes just to kill them off for a few new recruits (with no movies mind you)! I mean sure its okay to add new heroes, but its not okay to kill off originals weather they died in the comics or not! If they kill off characters, they are sure to lose fans. If they lose fans they lose money. And marvels whole goal is to make money! Original characters don’t have to be ditched just for new ones! The originals are what made the avengers movie a phenomenon! Not all these new guys! They should just put everyone on the edge of their seats by making us think a character is going to die and then letting live. Like they did in the last movie (part of the thing that made it a big hit)! Its called dramatic affect people! Something marvel should definitely stick to using! It would be better to see new recruits work with the originals!! Another thing I cant wrap my mind around, is why everyone wants a planet hulk and wwh so bad! Its crap!!! (No offense to fans with different opinions) Its crap because it turns the hulk evil!!! Therefore making it an atrocity! I would much rather just see marvel do a sequel to TIH, that keeps the hulk a good guy!! Nonsense like planet hulk should never enter the marvel cinematic universe!!! Sometimes what happens in the comics should stay in the comics! The hulk is a superhero, was originally created a superhero, and is meant to stay a superhero!!!!! You don’t see DC turning batman into a villain just because he is rage fueled or is not the most sunshiny superhero!! I just don’t want to see marvel make that huge mistake!! They were doing beyond excellent with the avengers and I just don’t wanna see them mess it all up like that!! The hulk is just as much an avenger as all the rest and does not deserve to be turned against a team that he is apart of(and a very valuable asset to)! I mean no offense to you or your opinions so don’t think that I am trying to put you down.